Ilyushin Finance inks $1.2B lease deal for An-148s, Tu-204s

Leasing company Ilyushin Finance yesterday did a deal to supply up to 45 airliners to Russian airline Atlant-Soyuz. The memorandum of understanding, signed here in Paris yesterday and worth up to $1.2 billion, is with United Aircraft Company for 30 Antonov An-148 regional airliners and 15 Tupolev Tu-204 medium-haul jets. The lease contract itself should be concluded by September 1.

The An-148s will be handed over to the client over a period of three years, starting in 2010. The Tu-204SMs will enter service with Atlant-Soyuz over a period of two years, starting next year, according to Ilyushin Finance general director Alexander Rubtsov. The initial batch of An-148s will be the 85-seat -100 model but the manufacturer will later supply the 99-passenger An-158, previously referred to as the An-148-200. A spokesman for Atlant-Soyuz told AIN that the airline is now devising its route network for the new aircraft. It intends to develop its fleet entirely with Russian-made aircraft.